The Time Invader - Jesus Christ, God In The Flesh

There is the story of a father putting his four-year-old son to bed. Having finished prayers, stories, and dealing with all the little “stall tactics” his son performed, he kissed his son and turned the light off. Almost immediately his son started crying, "Don't leave me. I'm scared and don't want to stay here alone."

The father tried to encourage the little boy by reminding him that they had just had devotions and God’s presence was with him. To this the little boy said, "I want somebody with skin on." Gary Bowell

This is why we celebrate Christmas. This is the great message of the Incarnation! God coming in the flesh!

(Mat 1:23 NKJV) "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

This is the time of the year when we hear the word “incarnation” being used more often than at other times. But what does the word incarnation mean?

A literal definition of the word incarnation means in the flesh. The root, “carn” is found in other words such as “carnage,” “carnality,” and “carnivorous” and means “meat” or “flesh.”

A theological definition of the word incarnation is “God's becoming human,” and another is “the union of divinity and humanity in Jesus of Nazareth.”

The Bible teaches that the incarnation refers to the truth of God, who without in any way ceasing to be the one God, revealed Himself to humanity for its salvation by becoming human. Jesus, the Man from Nazareth, is the incarnate Word or Son of God.

As the God-Man, He mediates God to humans

* If I want to know what God is like, I look at Jesus.

I see His gentleness with the woman caught in the act of adultery as He forgives her and tells her to “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)

I see His patience for a short man in a sycamore tree as He looks up and says to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." (Luke 19)

I see His healing touch when He takes a blind man by the hand and leads him to a solitary place; takes some of his own spit and anoints the mans eyes making him see (Mark 8:22)

I see His love for the alienated as He touches a man with leprosy (Mat. 8:3)

* If I want to know how God feels about things or what is on His mind, I listen to Jesus.

I learn that God doesn’t want me to live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from His mouth (Luke 4:4)

I learn God’s righteous indignation as Jesus takes a whip and chases the moneychangers out of the temple declaring, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.” (Mat. 21:13)

I learn that God expects me to forgive seventy times seven when my brother sins against me (Mat. 18:22)

I learned that God, who is Spirit, is looking for worshipers, who must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)

As the God-Man, He mediates God to humans- If I want to know what God is like, I look at Jesus

But as the Man-God, He represents humans to God:

* As a man, God knows by experience what it means to be human—Because of Jesus, God “feels me.”

The writer of Hebrews, chapter 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The Bible says in Heb 5:8 that Jesus, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

* Jesus knows what it feels like to be human, so He stands before God the Father as my advocate.

1 Tim 2:5 - For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

1 John 2:1 - My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

The term "Advocate" portrays Jesus as both an "attorney" and an "intercessor." He is the One who represents the cause of believers in the presence of the Father.

This is how the psalmist could even say:

Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

Psa 103:9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.

Psa 103:10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.